A Silver Summer: the Hampton Court Calotype Experiment

Robert Hoare, Photo Historian, Hampton Court Palace Recent Lecture

This absorbing account of research and experimentation into early photographic processes at Hampton Court replaced the scheduled talk on the Palace’s Tudor Kitchens by Marc Meltonville, which will take place later in the RAS programme. Starting with a photograph of a Camera Club meeting at Hampton Court in 1856, Robert Hoare described his exploration of the connection between photography and Hampton Court. After detailed study of the correspondence and techniques developed by 19th century photographers, Robert achieved his ambition in Summer 2005 when he was able to replicate, using the early calotype process, four views of Hampton Court Palace originally taken in 1845.

For many years before the invention of photography, the camera obscura had been in use among artists, who drew by hand the image reflected in the mirror. In the 19th century advancements in chemistry enabled the image to be fixed, fulfilling the dream of a “mirror with memory”. The principal, rival photographic processes were the daguerreotype, invented in France by Louis Daguerre, who used silver iodide to produce an image on metal, and the calotype, pioneered by William Henry Fox Talbot, who is traditionally held to have produced the first photograph in England

The calotype process involved the production of a negative and a positive image on paper sensitised with silver salts. This was cheaper than the daguerreotype and opened up the possibility of multiple images. However, the process was slow, complicated and highly sensitive to environmental conditions. The apparatus, often carried by an assistant, was heavy and cumbersome and included a tent to protect the chemicals and to act as a dark room for developing the images. The chemical processes were still poorly understood, involving a lot of trial and error, and the earliest images were very small and notoriously unstable. The process was improved by other photographers, including Benjamin Turner who pioneered large calotype on glass, which allowed the image to be modified.

In spite of the difficulties inherent in the process, the images frequently have a magical quality and, in addition to views of Hampton Court, the talk was illustrated by a fascinating series of 19th century portraits and studies of buildings, landscape and still life. Amongst these were Robert Howlett’s dramatic portrait of Isambard Kingdom Brunel set against the massive cables of the Great Eastern, showing the ability of photography to isolate and juxtapose objects to create a unique impact; and rustic views from Fox Talbot’s garden, reflecting Victorian nostalgia for the rural idyll.

Portraits became increasingly popular and, although processing times were gradually reduced, the resultant studied poses, often obtained with the help of various physical supports, frequently allowed the essential character of the sitter to be displayed. Photographs could serve as social documentary and series such as Edinburgh Ale by Hill and Adamson used humour to make their impact.

Whilst Daguerre made his invention freely available in return for a pension from the French government, Fox Talbot sought to protect the calotype process by patent, which involved him in protracted litigation. Within a relatively short space of time both processes had been superseded by other methods which were quicker and cheaper, leading ultimately to the development of a dry process. This allowed the uses of photography to be extended, at the same time reducing the strange reactions to light, heat and colour which characterised the work of the earliest photographers. At Hampton Court, the calotype experiment and Robert Hoare’s account succeeded in recapturing some of the early magic.

Jennifer Hunt